Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!drivax!frotz From: frotz@dri.com (Frotz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Subject: Re: Bill Gates, in memo, warns of attack and defeat by rivals Message-ID: Date: 27 Jun 91 21:23:30 GMT References: <23720@shlump.lkg.dec.com> <1991Jun21.155437.12513@sarah.albany.edu> <1991Jun26.215452.27235@ncsu.edu> Sender: frotz@dri.com Reply-To: frotz@dri.com Organization: Digital Research, Monterey CA/USA or none (see also My_Desk) Lines: 63 eagle@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu (Daniel L'Hommedieu) writes: ]frotz@dri.com (Frotz) writes: ]>There will be no other operating system for the 90s other ]>than DOS (at least for the first half!). Perhaps I should have qualified this a bit more than I did. I don't forsee another operating system replacing DOS on the machines already in existence (and running DOS). I am a believer in Unix and I hope that the Unix marketplace expands to fill much of the software power requirements of the DOS market, but *I* just don't see it happening. Those who will move to Unix *from* DOS have already done it or have access to/own a Unix boxen. These numbers are not all that large. At work I use our Ultrix boxen because it gives me better productivity than using the VMS side of things here. I still have a DOS box at home. In fact, I go out of my way to find PD sources that are available on Unix to port to DOS to make it do the things that I need. This however, does not mean I have the $$$ (let alone the room at home;-} to go get a unix machine, at least not the unix box that *I* want...;-) ]I beg to differ, John. Unix is going to be a major player in the ]Operating System game of the 90's. I'm actually surprised at how long ]MeSsy-DOS has lasted! I am not arguing this point, but I think that the game in which Unix is a major place is not the *exactly* same game in which DOS plays. Sure, there are overlaps, but there are many factors which go into installing a system in a small (or large) office. 1) What applications are needed and *are* they available under Unix? 2) What are the installation costs of Unix v. DOS? (I have no experience here with Unix installations.) 3) What are the maintenance costs of Unix v. DOS? (Milage may vary, depending on the uses of the box. e.g. If you have email connectivity between workstations in an office, then you have (most likely) UUCP or SMTP to keep track of, in addition to writing the user scripts to "hide" much of the details of this from the Joe Average User.) 4) What are the costs of Unix v. DOS/Lans? (Here I would suspect that Unix would win out in terms of productivity gains.) ]Now, whether or not my next computer (NeXT ]computer?) runs OS/2, I don't know. I can guarantee you one thing, ]however: it will NOT be MS-DOS! I also would probably not want a DOS OS on my next box, however, there are DOS alternatives that are managable. Our Multi-user DOS v5 is not that bad. (Personally, I still want Unix, but it is still not that bad for 386/486 users.) -- John "Frotz" Fa'atuai frotz@dri.com (email@domain) Digital Research, Inc. uunet!drivax!frotz (bang!email) c/o MIS Dept. 408/647-6570 or 408/646-6287 (vmail) 80 Garden Court, CompRm 408/649-3896 (phone) Monterey, CA 93940 408/646-6248 (fax) #include // My thoughts and these words are my own.